Our people and our ideas create fundamental knowledge and help draw connections between our cosmic origins, our environment, and our technological society.
We work closely with other disciplines at the University including Applied Mathematics, Geography and Spatial Sciences, Earth Sciences, and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.
Our staff and students work with a variety of astrophysical infrastructure, including radio and optical telescopes, geodetic arrays and geophysical networks. We have particular theoretical strength in computational astrophysical fluid dynamics and data visualisation.
We have an active and welcoming group of young researchers pursuing higher degrees by research in our discipline. Students undertaking a Master’s (2 years) or Doctoral (PhD, 3 years) degree develop an original research project under the guidance of a faculty supervisor, and build their skills in project management, experimental design, data collection and analysis, and scientific communication. Our PhD program is recognised internationally as a high-quality training program for highly-motivated and talented young scientists and academics.
We also work very closely with researchers in Applied Mathematics.
Postgraduate projects available for the current round are shown on the Research Degrees site under the School of Natural Sciences. However, other projects become available on a regular basis.
Research Areas
Our staff and students are highly collegial, and their research interests frequently overlap and cross boundaries. Several of our researchers are involved in multidisciplinary efforts across multiple areas of the University.
Project opportunities can be found in the following:
People: Professor Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, Dr Krzysztof Bolejko, Associate Professor Andrew Cole, Professor Simon Ellingsen, Dr Guifré Molera Calvés, Associate Professor Stanislav Shabala
- Gravity, Large Scale Structure, Hubble Tension, Distance Scale
- Exoplanets, Microlensing, Red Dwarfs, Galactic Bar
- Star Formation, Spiral Arms, Masers
- Active Galactic Nuclei, Jets, Feedback, Black Holes
- Pulsars, Neutron Stars, General Relativity
- Galaxy Evolution, Dwarf Galaxies, Stellar Chemistry, Star Clusters
- Solar System, Sun, Planetary Science
People: Dr Lucia McCallum, Dr Jamie McCallum, Dr Guifré Molera Calves
- Geodetic VLBI
People: Professor Anya Reading
- Seismology; Tectonics, Glacier and Environmental
- Computational; Inverse Theory, Machine Learning, Data Visualisation
Honours and Summer Research Scholarship
Students who have completed a relevant Bachelor degree may enrol in an Honours program to study under the supervision of a team of researchers. Over nine and a half months, students carry out their own research project guided by their supervisory team, undertake a literature review, write a research proposal and present a research seminar.
If you are interested in undertaking an Honours project, contact the coordinator, Assoc Prof Stanislav Shabala, or get in touch with potential supervisors directly.
Every year the College of Science and Engineering awards a number of scholarships that allow undergraduate students to conduct research for 6 - 8 weeks over the summer break, between November and February.
Embedded within an existing research group, you will gain valuable research experience, as well as a little bit of cash. This experience will give you an edge in pursuing your new career, demonstrating that you can put your knowledge into practice, and building valuable skills in time and project management.
Visit the College website for general information on the Summer Research Scholarship.
If you're interested, the first step is to express interest to your Physics lecturers. They can help identify research opportunities and get you on track. It all starts with a conversation!
